“The number of adults under correctional supervision in the United States declined by less than one percent during 2009, dropping to 7,225,800 (or 48,800 fewer offenders than at yearend 2008), the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. This was the first measured decline in the total number of adults under correctional supervision since BJS began reporting these populations in 1980. One in 32 adults, or about 3.1 percent of U.S. adult residents, was under correctional supervision at yearend 2009, down slightly from the rate of supervision in 2008. Although comparatively small, decreases in the probation population (down by 40,079 offenders) and the parole population (down by 5,526 offenders) were the first observed decreases since BJS began annual data collections on these populations in 1980. At yearend 2009, 4,203,967 adults were on probation, and 819,308 were under parole or other post-custody supervision. During 2009, entries to probation declined by 2.4 percent, and entries to parole declined by 1.2 percent. At the same time, the number leaving probation increased by 0.3 percent and leaving parole supervision increased by 0.9 percent. The increased number of offenders leaving probation and parole was associated with increases in the rate of offenders completing their terms of supervision. During 2009, 65 percent of probationers completed their terms, either by serving their full-term sentence or by early discharge, up from 58 percent in 2006. Among parolees, 51 percent completed their terms of supervision during 2009, up from 45 percent in 2006. The failure rate of offenders under community supervision—defined as the incarceration of offenders at any time during the year—remained relatively stable or declined during 2009. For probationers, the percent incarcerated at some time during the year remained relatively stable from 2006 (6.1 percent) through 2009 (5.8 percent). Among parolees, the failure rate declined slightly from 15.4 percent in 2006 to 14.0 percent in 2009.”